Piston ring groove cleaner and deepener



H. ELLISON PISTON RING GROOVE CLEANER AND DEEPENER Aug. 30, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 25, 1944 R. 0 m m m I 8%;, flo W E m w w Aug. 30, 1949. H. ELLISON PISTON RING GROOVE CLEANER AND DEEPENER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 23, 1944 INVENTOR. 190M570 11 /$0/1;

Zw/w Patented Aug. 30, 1949 UNITED srAT PISTON RING GROOVE CLEANER AND DEEPENER Houston Ellison, Tulsa, Okla. Application March 23, 1944, Serial No. 527,796

2 Claims.

A further object of the invention comprises the provision of an improved and simplified piston cleaner, it'being pointed out that the prior piston cleaners are usually provided with adjustable tool carriers sliding along straight guides, bars, rods, or the like, said tool carriers requiring a plurality of adjustments to bring the scraping tool into correct position with respect to pistons of diiferent size. I

In accordance with the present invention, the sliding adjustment devices of the prior art tools are replaced by pivoted means requiring only a single adjustment to bring the scraper or cutter element of the tool into a central working position on pistons of varying diameters.

A further object of the invention comprises providing a simple-and effective means for effecting the adjustment of the scraper element in its proper working position with respect to the piston, as well as the fine and precise adjustment of the working pressure.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following specification.

The invention will be described in connection Figure 7 is a longitudinal cross sectional view taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 6, and shows the mounting and locking of the scraper disc;

Figure 8 is an elevational detail of said parts; and

Figures 9 and 10 are details of the locking mechanism which effect 'the locking of the scraper disc.

The piston groove cleaners'of the prior art are provided with a single scraper or cutter disc attached to an arm which is itself attached to a flexible band or cord'drawn around the piston and tightened so as to firmly grip the latter in order-to bring the scraper into its'correct working position relative to thepiston grooves of varying diameters; .Ihese piston groove cleaners frequently consist of a straight portion and a bent or gooseneck portion integral therewith, the former serving as a guide for a slide carrying guide post on which the tool carrier proper is slidably mounted. The: latter usually consists of a slidable base member on which is mounted a disc provided with a'plurality of scraper and/or cutter elementsof varying sizes. It is necessary to adjust the scraper disc carrier on its slide post, and the slide post must be adjusted on the straight guide arm in such a manner that one of the scraper or cutter elements of the disc enters the groove of the piston to be cleaned on one side while the gooseneck or bent portion is pressed against the piston on the other side. As it is not possible to secure a finely adjusted working pressure between the scraping tool and the piston inthis manner, springs have been provided either between the scraper disc and the base or on additional intermediate parts which are pressing'the scraper towards the work piece.

The piston cleaning tool, in that form of the invention shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, is provided with a main body portion I, to which there is joined the bent gooseneck portion 2, said members being provided respectively with legs 2a and Zhwhich are pressed against the piston 4 as shown in Figure Land form counter supports for the scraper or cutter element In. The leg members are provided with ribs 3 of reduced cross section, as shown in Figure 3, said legs fitting into the grooves' la of the piston. The scraper disc 9, which is provided with scrapers or cutters i6, is mounted on a carrier bar 8 pivotally connected with the body portion I of the tool by means of a pivot l. V The body portion 1 of the tool is provided with a tubular extending member or sleeve 5, the latter serving as a handle for the manipulation of the tool. The lower portion of thesleeve 6 is interiorly provided with screw threads'which cooperate with and are engaged by corresponding threads on the screw spindle 5, the latter being provided at its outer end with a milled or knurledknob or disc [3' for the purpose of manipulating the screw spindle. A push bar member H is slidably mounted in the sleeve 6, and the lower end of the push bar member is in contact with the screw spindle 5. The other end of the spindle protrudes from the upper portion of the sleeve 6 and engages a pressure lug l2 projecting downwardly from the lower portion of the carrier bar 8. Instead of using a separate screw spindle 5 and an independent push bar I I to move the'carrier bar '8, these "elements may be integral. 5 i

A spring M of any suitable type, but preferably a leaf spring, is inserted between the tool bar carrier 8 and the body portion- I and is normally positioned to press the carrier bar outwardly, thereby holding the pressure lug 12 of the carrier bar permanently and firmly in contact with the upper end of the pusher bar H; The scraper disc 9 carrying scrapers or cutter elements I0 is rotatably mounted on the forward end of thecarrier bar 8 by any suitable means, as, for example, a pin 15, the latter being screwed into the upper end portion of the inwardly projecting bracket ll of'the bar 8, said pin serving as a shaftaround which the scraper disc 9 may freely turn. The pin is held against longitudinal movement by the nut It. The disc 9 consists of a number of scrapers, each preferably of diiferent size and width, said scrapers projecting radially from a hub member, said scrapers enabling the tool to be used with pistons and piston grooves of varying diameters. Where a great variety of pistons are to'beserviced, several scraper discs may be held in stock. When necessary, the scraper disc maybe removed by unscrewing the pin from its seating member., A scraper or cutter 19 in its operative working position is locked or fixed im movably facing the leg member 2 of the goosenecl: body portion, the latter providing means for engaging the piston at spaced points. To so hold and lock the scraper element l9, one of the idle scraper elements projects into a holding and locking member l9, preferably made by recessing the forward end of the locker bar l8, said locking member being provided with jaws 2!), which are positioned at an acute angle to each other to form a wedge-like member engaging the idle scraper element Ill. The jaws 20 are held in pressure contact with the idle scraper H) by means of a spring acting on the lower surface of the locker bar I8, said spring operating in the bore 22 of the carrier bar 8. The locker bar l8 fits tightly in the bore 22 and its jaws 29 project beyond the upper end of the bore walls. The jaws 2Q seize and grip firmly without play the idle scra er element l9 when it is moved into engagement with the locker bar. To unlock the locker bar l8 :1 thumb pin 23, shown as a small screw, is fixed to the locker bar I 8, said pin projecting outwardly from a slot 24 provided in the wall of the bore 22 of the carrier bar 8. The upper end of the slot 24 serves as a stop preventing the locker bar !8 from moving further when the movement of the thumb pin is arrested by said end member;

The scraper element H1 may be brought into working position on pistons of varying diameter, having grooves of varying depth and width, by turning the knob l3 of the screw 5, thereby moving th carrier bar 8 with the scraper disc 9 around the pivot l. The location of the pivot 1, acting as a fulcrum; is such that during the ad-' justing movement the working edge of the scraper element Ill moves-along a line A--A'which lies within a central section-defined between'the lines B=B and C--C, -as shown in Figure 1. "This section approximately defines the central zone within which the angle of the attack of the cutting edge of the scraper element ID on pistons of varying diameter remains within certain limits, and the cutter working within a part of the piston groove contained within said zone therefore operates under favorable working conditions on pistons of all sizes,

--In using the tool, the "operator proceeds in the following'r'nannerz After having selected and fixed the scraper disc 9, the knob I3 is turned so as to move the carrier bar 8 outwardly for a sufiicient extent to permit the insertion of the scraper and cutter element ID in the groove 4a of the piston. The proper scraper and cutter element for the piston groove may be selected before or after insertion. If selected after insertion, the operator depresses the thumb pin 23 and retracts the locker bar l8, and then turns the scraper disc 9 until the proper scraper element is in positionopposite the groove to be operated on. whenthe correct scraper or-cutter element has been selected, the operator then locks the idle scraper disc l0, thereby locking the active cutting and scraper disc [9 into position;

Thereafter, to bring the active scraper element l9 into working position whereby it will scrape and/or cut the depositwhich is to be removed from the piston groove, the knob H3 is again turned, thereby causing the scraperelement to enter the piston groove and to penetrate the deposit which is to be removed; The operator may adjust the working pressure to be applied v-ery finely by paying attention to the resistance which is encountered during adjustments When the screw has been adjusted, the tool is then used in the usual manner. If the resistance encountered during the cleaning is too heavy or too slight, the pressure applied may be easily readjusted. In the modification illustrated'in Figs. 5' to 10 inclusive, thetool comprises a main body portion I and, preferably integral therewith, a bent portion or gooseneck portion 2, the lower p'ortion of the "body member being provided with a tubular extension 6, the latter being provided with screw threads which engage a screw 5 carrying a milled head or knob l3. Mounted on a carrierbar-25 is a scraper disc 9 provided with scraper or cutter elements ID. The carrier bar 25'is pivotally connected to the body member 'I by meansof lev'ersZS and 29 and pivot pins 26, 21, 3Q and'Sl respectively, said levers being arranged in substantial parallelism to each other, forming, to} gether with the carrier bar 25, a lever parallelogram providing a parallelogram means by which the scraper disc!) and its scraper elements Ill ma be moved towards the goosene-ck portion ,2.

The arrangement of the guiding member's'oi the.carri er,bar is. such that the cutting edge of the scraper l9 moves along a curvedlineA -A whichis contained within the sector definedgbetween thev lines B-B and C-C. Thisusector as explained inconnection with Figure l, defines'the zone within which working conditions forpistons of different and varying sizes are mostfavorable andare approximatelysimilan A spring- 32.,is connected with one of the levers, as, for example, the lever 28, while the other lever is provided with a pressure boss 92a against which the end face 5a of the screw S-abuts. The sprin 32 functionsto move the lever system away from the workpiece and into pressure contact with the screw member 5. The scraper element I!) may be brought into operative position relative tQ -the pistongroove containing a deposit to be removed by appropriate operation of a screw 5.

The scraper disc 8 is mounted on the carrier bar 25 by means of a pin 83 which is provided with a head 34 which abuts adjacent the outer surface of the scraper disc and with a screwthreaded portion 85 which projects into a bore 36 which is threaded to engage the screw threads of the screw member 35. The disc 9 is loosely mounted on the pin 33 and therefore may be revolved by the operator at will. However, the disc may be brought into a fixed position in accordance with the wishes of the operator. In order to firmly hold the disc and any cutter element in operative position, the disc is provided with holes 3! adapted to receive a locking pin 38 having a head 39. One hole is provided for each scraper position. The locking pin 38 is caused to enter into the hole 87 by the operation of a shield member 40 provided at its upper portion With a depending bent fiange All having a slot 41a adapted to receive the locking pin 31. The shield 40, which preferably is in the shape of a shoe, partly surrounding the carrier bar 25, is pivoted thereon by a pivot 26 passing through the lateral flanges of the shield. This shield serves as a thumb piece, and its front end holding the pin 88 is permanently urged towards the carrier bar and the scraper disc by a spring 45. The pin 38 operates in the bore 38a in the upper portion of the carrier bar 25.

If the operator desires to change a scraper or cutter element Hi, the operator presses on the rear part of the shield 40 serving as a thumb piece and thereby retracts the locking pin from the hole 31. While the pin is in the retracted position, the scraper disc can rotate around the shaft 33. All of these operations may be carried out with the fingers of the hand which holds the tool. The operation of the device is thought to be clear from the above description.

The piston groove cleaner tool of the present invention is a simple and eifective instrument having a number of advantages over the prior art tools. By combining the adjustment of the scraper position and the adjustment of the working pressure to be used during the operation and by eliminating linear adjustments which are now most frequently used to bring the scraper into operative position, only a single fine and precise adjustment is needed, and thereby all complicated means for limiting the working pressure 6 or for holding it constant are dispensed with. The use of a screw impinging on a pressure boss results in greater precision and permits transmission of the strain through pressure surfaces.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the kind described, a carrier bar, an offset bracket projecting from one side of the carrier bar, a scraper disc mounted on said bracket and revoluble thereon, said disc having radially extending cutters, and spring pressed latching means mounted in said carrier bar and adapted to engage one of said cutters and thereby hold a second cutter in operative position, said spring pressed latching means including a plunger projectable from the carrier bar and having a V-shaped notch in its upper end adapted to fit any one of said cutters, and a spring beneath said plunger urging the same upwardly.

2. In a device of the kind described, a carrier bar, an offset bracket projectin from one side of the carrier bar, a scraper disc mounted on said bracket and revoluble thereon, said disc having radially extending cutters, said cutters being arranged in diametrically opposite pairs, and spring pressed latching means mounted in said carrier bar and adapted to engage one cutter of a pair and thereby hold the opposite cutter in operative position, said spring pressed latching means including a plunger projectable from the carrier bar and having a V-shaped notch in its upper end adapted to fit any one of said cutters, and a spring beneath said plunger urging the same upwardly.

HOUSTON ELLISON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 316,784 Hill Apr. 28, 1885 1,012,304 Vinton Dec. 19, 1911 1,259,770 Olson Mar. 19, 1918 2,109,857 Berkman Mar. 1, 1938 2,124,757 Vaughan July 26, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 34,644 Switzerland Oct. 6, 1905 190,005 Great Britain Dec. 14, 1922 

